CRAP AMMO! Try running them through the Sig a second time. Also, just because a magazine works in one gun doesn't mean it will in another one. Buy some good Bulgarian waffle magazines. You have a $1500 rifle and $10 gunshow special magazines loaded with Berdan primed steel cased ammo. You don't put 87octane in a Porsche and take it to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. Garbage In Garbage Out.

First, Wolf isn't "crap ammo". Every 7.62x39 rifle made accept the Sig 556R fires it just fine in my experience. Wolf is the most commonly used 7.62x39 in the US and has been for decades.

Secondly, pre-ban Polytech steel magazines aren't cheap AK mags. The rifle came with a Bulgarian commercial magazine, and it didn't work nor did the high quality Polytech magazine, or any of my Bulgarian steel mags or polymer mags.

The Sig 556R isn't the "Porsche" (it's more like the Kia) of the gun world and they don't cost $1500 unless you're used to over paying for firearms. It's an $1100 gun.

As for the notion Silver Bear is superior quality ammo, zinc plating compared to lacquer or polymer is inferior. It's "cool" to many because it looks high quality due to the flashy nature of untarnished zinc. Leave it exposed to the elements for a couple of days and this is what you get:

It doesn't do anything better than lacquer or polymer coatings other than looking pretty for a while. Lacquer and polymer are military grade coatings, there's a reason the Russians don't zinc plate their military ammo.

I purchased a 556 Russian about 1 week ago. It refuses to run through a full mag without some type of malf. I jumped in without checking the water and got burned big time. Used a different steel cased ammo so this isn't about the ammo for the most part because I've read brass is ok. Not happy at all.

You have a $1500 rifle and $10 gunshow special magazines loaded with Berdan primed steel cased ammo. You don't put 87octane in a Porsche and take it to Jiffy Lube for an oil change

I strongly disagree with this concerning the 556R. This is EXACTLY why I purchased the rifle in the first place. I purchased this rifle so I CAN shoot cheap, steel cased 7.62x39 ammo with steel AK mags. A bunch of it for the fact of the matter. I paid over $1100.00 for it. I paid that much to have an updated AK for the 21st century with the SIG name stamped on it. I'm pretty sure most that bought one had this in mind as well.

I'm no expert, but if you pay to have something that you believe is High Quality, it should be able to everything you expect it to do, and more. All this argument over "You use crap ammo, that's why it fails" is just stupid IMO. Using the car analogy, you buy a Ferrari and you put cheap gas in it, sure it won't run at its full potential, but it will still run. The same thing applies here, we expect a certain standard of quality when you are investing a rather large sum of money in a companies product.

The fact that the SIG556R cannot accept what even entry level AK47 pattern rifles can is simply ridiculous, what we expect from a product such as this, is that it can do everything it's less than prestigious counterparts can do and beyond.

Sadly this apparently is not the case, and SIG just did not care what the end product was and slapped a price tag on it and advertised that it was something that it is clearly not.

Great video as usual Sturm, I look forward to seeing more of your videos in the future.

Pun Intended. I just purchased a Sig Sauer 556R... unfortunately before your outstanding review. You did an outstanding job of considering external causes and eliminating them. I am very disappointed that Sig Sauer still produces this model with this problem 4 1/2 years after you brought the failure to fire issue to the public's attention. My rifle shot maybe... 15 rounds... before it stopped firing. My gunsmith is trying to resolve the issue and suspects a spring defect.

My YouTube response suggests that Sig Sauer should do the proper thing and issue a recall to address the failure to fire issue. This is a potentially life threatening condition, because rounds also stick in the barrel. The good folks at Gander Mountain in Tyler were surprised the barrel did not explode. Hopefully Sig Sauer is not waiting for an injury or death to seriously assess and address the failure to fire and stuck cartridge issues.

steel cased ammo/cheap ammo, whatever. for the price of this thing it had better feed and fire reliably anything you feed it. period.

I won't buy any new Sig products, as much as I love their 220/226/229. They're both overpriced and overhyped. I'll buy old used West German guns and give my retail business on new guns to a company more deserving of it.

I am a range officer at a large public range in south Florida.
I see all sorts of AR problems. Usually with new rifles, rifles dry of lubricant, rifles with el cheapo magazines, rifles using weak gun show reloads AND rifles using steel cased ammo.
What I have seen is that if an AR will work with steel cased ammo, it will work with anything.
The usual problem is failure to extract, case stuck in the chamber. Generally after a few rounds have been fired allowing the rounds coating to stick to the chamber walls.
a thorough cleaning and then polishing the chamber with Flitz does help a lot to solve the case sticking problem.
As far as Sig rifles being a problem, no more than any other brand, no better no worse.

I have one of the newer generation 556R's and it has been flawless. The red dot sight they give you is crap, but the rifle itself has been totally reliable. I have only shot Silver Bear through it. Look for a gun that was made in July, 2012, or later and you should be fine.

Sturmgewehre: I've enjoyed watching a bunch of your videos, and only watch about five Youtube Channels (all guns) on a regular basis.

Maybe you are fortunate that you either got your money back, or have credit towards another purchase at the store (?).

Having seen your major problems with the Century Tantal AK-74 (shooting 5.45 thorough a 5.56 bore...which Century certainly Knew about when they were sold...) and very lucky 'service' with Century, hope you did ok when this Sig was returned.

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